COVID-19

[cranefly]

I see that Amitabh Bachchan, 77, has been infected.
Also, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and her little daughter.

I'm still trying to unravel their relationship.  I don't think Amitabh is Ash's father.  But I'm hearing that three generations of Bachchan are affected.

[Drunk Monk]

Saw that. Very sad. 

Ash married Abhishek, Amitabh's son.

[Greg]

We now have over 1000 cases in Madera County with 10 confirmed deaths. That is not the trend I hoped for.

[Drunk Monk]

Politricks.

All us libtards saw it coming...

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Saw it coming? How could anyone have known?

[Drunk Monk]

Science!

The science deniers are bringing us all down. Case and point - Florida.

Come up to Red Country.

Grave words...

[Drunk Monk]

LOCKN' is going for its annual concert on Oct 2-4. https://www.locknfestival.com/  It's in VA.

I've heard good things about this festival. It's very Grateful. My friends that have attended or worked it have giving glowing reports. 

No way I'd go now though.

[cranefly]

This past Saturday LCF and I took Halvah to the vet for her monthly checkup.  We've been giving her fluids every other day since last August, and she's hanging in there at age 12, though we have to monitor her closely.

As usual, upon arrival we called from the parking lot, and someone came out to get Halvah in the carrier and get an update.  Then we waited around in the parking lot while they did some tests on her, standing in a patch of shade provided by trees.  A couple other people did the same.

At some point we noticed a disturbance out on the sidewalk maybe 40 feet away.  Two pedestrians had passed each other, going in opposite directions, but now there was some sort of altercation going on.  I just figured that they had recognized each other and were goofing off a bit, but LCF picked up that something wasn't right and took a few steps towards them.  Then I saw it and stepped in their direction as well.  The shorter, brawly guy was dancing around, loading up his fists, advancing on the taller thinner guy, who was panicked, holding up a hand, backing away.  The brawler seemed about to back off and go on his way, but then he'd turn back and advance on the slender guy again, shouting at him, threatening him with fists.

We didn't crowd him but made him aware of our presence, and he kept casting us side glances, distracted, but also ready to challenge everyone.  Meanwhile, a woman in the parking lot had pulled out her phone and started to film.  Finally the brawler moved on with a lot of swagger, eyeing us time and again, eventually to cut through the alley behind Walmart.  The tall slender guy had by now retreated to near El Camino, where he cast back a distraught "WTF!" look and shook his head in rattled dismay.

Afterwards, I pieced together the likely catalyst.  The tall skinny guy was wearing a mask.  The brawler wasn't.  The former likely made some comment as they passed.

In our Mountain View neighborhood, we can usually go for walks without masks, just stepping out into the street or into yards to avoid others.  But on that sidewalk in front of the vet's, there's simply no leeway -- a tight hedge on one side, and Showers Avenue on the other, always busy near the intersection with El Camino.  You really should be wearing a mask if you walk there.

Fortunately, of the 350 million Americans, only this one guy doesn't seem to agree.  And all is well in the world, all is well....

[Drunk Monk]

Hotel life is weird. The pool is full. Everything else is empty. No way this place is anywhere near capacity. Masks required inside and no touch hand sanitizers are thoughtfully everywhere. The elevators are a pain in the ass because to socially distance only a few can ride at a time. There’s only 4 elevators and 14 floors. We’re on 7 - too far to take the stairs. Sometimes there are long lines.

[King Bob]

I think you need more cardio. Seven floors leaves me pretty out of breath but is doable as long as I'm not carrying much. Gotta pace yourself though.

[Drunk Monk]

Does a bitey puppy count as carrying too much? Yuki's not good climbing stairs yet.

[King Bob]

That would make it difficult

[Drunk Monk]

Took them long enough to give up...

'It Never Really Broke Right': Peter Shapiro Pushes Lockn' To October 2021, Announces Joe Russo's Almost Dead Streams (Exclusive)
2:00 PM, Saturday, 8/29/2020
 
By: Eric Renner Brown

[email=?subject=%27It%20Never%20Really%20Broke%20Right%27:%20Peter%20Shapiro%20Pushes%20Lockn%27%20To%20October%202021,%20Announces%20Joe%20Russo%27s%20Almost%20Dead%20Streams%20(Exclusive)%20&body=https://www.pollstar.com/article/it-never-really-broke-right-peter-shapiro-pushes-lockn-to-october-2021-announces-joe-russos-almost-dead-streams-exclusive-146344?fbclid=IwAR0-hhbkKHCeCAfWRlwJbf5B1mk34PLWuRGetr7Cebzd9cdvDN_ZnSCWx6A] Emai[/email]Courtesy of LocknLockn' AheadLockn's home on Infinity Downs Farm (left, center, right) and Oak Ridge Farm (top) in Arrington, Va. The festival has officially moved its eighth iteration from October 2020 to October 2021.

Deadheads and jam band enthusiasts will have to wait a little longer to celebrate Phil Lesh's birthday in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In an interview with Pollstar, Lockn' promoter Peter Shapiro confirmed that the Virginia event, one of the final holdouts on the 2020 festival calendar, will not take place this year on its rescheduled October dates.
Instead, Lockn' will hold its eighth iteration – still a celebration of the Grateful Dead co-founder's birthday, albeit his 81st and not his 80th – at Infinity Downs and Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Va., on Oct. 1-3, 2021. Lockn' 2021 will kickoff with a "Steal Your Thursday" event on Sept. 30.
"We felt that the best place for '21 was to kick off the fall," Shapiro says. "That season feels right."

Courtesy Lockn'Locked In For 2021Lockn' will now celebrate Grateful Dead co-founder Phil Lesh's birthday – his 81st – in October 2021.

Typically held in late August, Lockn' had originally planned its 2020 event for June, with headlining sets every night by Lesh and a lineup including Brandi Carlile, David Crosby, Leon Bridges and many more. When the coronavirus pandemic threw the live industry into disarray, Lockn' rescheduled for the first weekend in October, and unveiled a slew of restrictions strictly in line with public health best practices.
"Too often, you just see these examples on social media of people not doing it right," says Shapiro, alluding to concerts in recent weeks that have grabbed headlines after failing to adhere to COVID-era safety guidelines. "We were going to try and do it right, which would've been good and helpful, and I'm bummed that we can't."
An ultimate purveyor of positive concert vibes, Shapiro knows that meticulous plans don't mean much without a good atmosphere – and "it never really broke right," he says. "The climate overall, it just wasn't there."
After all, Lockn' initially postponed in April, when America's fall coronavirus prognosis seemed rosier, and before the U.S. endured a surge in cases in June and July. As festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo canceled early fall events that had already been moved from earlier in 2020, Lockn' held out hope for a positive turn.
"We waited," Shapiro says. "Why not? People have been able to get refunds for several months; if anyone needed them, we did that. At that point, you might as well wait and just cross your fingers."
Ticket holders for the 2020 event can request refunds or opt to donate their tickets, with proceeds being split between Lockn' and nonpartisan voter registration group HeadCount, through Sept. 27. Otherwise, 2020 tickets will roll over to 2021 automatically.
Shapiro is optimistic about Lockn' 2021. He says booking conversations are already underway, and that Lockn's location – on rural land owned by the festival – has helped it adapt.
"We have the land, so we have that flexibility," he says. "We're not in a big city, a downtown park, where you have to secure the permits."

Courtesy Lockn'Live From Lockn'In lieu of this year's physical event, Lockn' will host Joe Russo's Almost Dead for three nights of livestreamed shows come October.

The promoter also has good news for downtrodden Lockn' fans: While audiences won't be in Arrington, Va., come October, Joe Russo's Almost Dead will be, and the festival will broadcast three nights of shows by the high-octane Dead cover band from Infinity Downs across the globe.
"I just realized one night, 'What if we brought Lockn' to people?'" Shapiro says. "Usually you have to come to Lockn', and it's not easy. It was like, 'Maybe it'll be cool, in a weird way.' I hope to not do it again, a show with no audience, but I'm excited to do it."
Shapiro, who has regularly incorporated visuals and film at his venues and shows ever since he cut a documentary about the Grateful Dead's summer '93 tour as a Northwestern film student, is particularly amped about using drones to capture aerial footage of the gigs.
"The potential, just thinking about what the drone shot can look like, was a big appeal for me," he says. "A drone shot on the Blue Ridge Mountains, shooting into seeing a band playing 'Shakedown Street' or whatever, from the sky like a bird... You can't do that in a venue. It can only be done there. We'll be able to do things with drones that we could not do if there was an audience."
JRAD was originally booked to headline the final night of Lockn' 2020, in an ensemble rounded out by Lesh and Dead & Company's John Mayer.
Lockn' 2020 ticket holders transferring their tickets to 2021 will be granted free access to the JRAD shows, and information for others who want to purchase tickets to the streams will be available soon. (Rogue diehards, be warned: "No one will be allowed," Shapiro sternly notes. "If people come, they won't play.")
The gigs will air on Shapiro's Fans platform, which has hosted several archival streamed events, as well as livestreamed and audience-less shows by artists such as Jason Isbell and Billy Strings from Shapiro's new club, Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, during the pandemic.
Of course, staging Lockn' properly is still Shapiro's lodestar – and he has every intention of doing so in just over a year.
"I feel very good that we'll be doing the event on the new dates," Shapiro says. "Whatever the world's got for us, we'll be ready."


Watch Shapiro's video announcement regarding Lockn' 2020 and 2021 above. Find more info about Lockn' ticketing and Joe Russo's Almost Dead's streams via the festival's website. For more on Lockn', revisit Pollstar's 2019 cover story about the event and April One-on-One session with Shapiro.

[King Bob]

Mark Mothersbaugh almost died from coronavirus. And Devo is making their own PPE now.

[Drunk Monk]

Reggae Icon Toots Hibbert In Jamaican Intensive Care Unit Awaiting COVID-19 Test Results


9/1/2020 by Gil Kaufman






Harmony Gerber/WireImage

Frederick "Toots" Hibbert of the band Toots and the Maytals performs at 2019 KAABOO Del Mar at Del Mar Race Track on Sept. 15, 2019 in Del Mar, Calif.



Reggae great Toots Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals is "making positive progress" in an intensive care unit in Jamaica as he awaits the results of a COVID-19 test, according to a statement from his family. "While reports of Mr. Hibbert being in an intensive care unit at a private facility in the Corporate Area are true, the family would like to assure those concerned that he is making positive progress and is receiving the best possible treatment, while he awaits the results on his COVID-19 test," reads the statement. "He is resting and in good spirits, and is showing signs of improvement by the hour."
The 77-year-old "Pressure Drop" singer's manager, Caleb Stephenson, told Jamaica's [i]Gleaner[/i] newspaper that Hibbert is recuperating after being admitted to the intensive care unit at a private hospital in St. Andrew following complaints of breathing difficulties. "We took him to a private facility where they administered some tests but said based on what is happening," Stephenson told the paper. "They have to do the COVID-19 test for everything to be complete and to rule it out."
Toots and the Maytals released their first album in a decade, [i]Got to Be Tough[/i], last week. The record, co-produced by drummer Zak Starkey, includes Starkey's dad, Ringo Starr and Ziggy Marley collaborating on a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds," as well as contributions from Meters drummer Cyril Neville and Jamaican drummer/producer Sly Dunbar.